Potato-cutter.



J. K. SHIBATA.

POTATO GUTTER. v APPLIOATIOH FILED mem, 1913.

1,094,604.- Patented Apr.28,1914.

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@Minna/UK@ J. K. SHIBTA.

PoTATo GUTTER.

APPLICATION FILED AUGAZI. 1913. 1,094,604, Patented Apr. 28, 1914.

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J. K. SHIBATA.

POTA'I'O GUTTER. APPL-NATION PILBD'AUQ-21, 1913.

Patented Apr. 28, 1914. a sHBBTiHsHEET a.

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' roTAro-currnn specification of Letters Patent. Application filed August 21,1913, seriai No. 785,900.

Patented Apr. 28,1914.

To all whom t may conce-ara.' Y

Be it known that' I, JAMES K. SHLBATA, a subject oftheEmperorof Japan, residing'at- Ghicago, 1n the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Potato- Cutters,

My invention relates to potato cutters ct of the invention is toprovide a machine capable of` cutting potatoes into pieces ofthe various' sizes. and shapes required for producing German fried, French fried, Saratoga chips,- dice and shoe string potatoes. f

More specifically, the objects of my invention are first, to provide means forautomatically f eeding the potato toward the sl-icing knife; second, toprovide means for adjusting the slicing yknifeto produce slices .of different thickness; third, to provide means for slitting the potato into strips of diderent widths; fourth, to provide con# venient manually operated means for feeding the potatoto the slicing knife through the squaring orvfashioningknives when dice are wanted. w

l accomplish my' objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a sectional elevation of the' machine on the line 1 1, Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is` a top plan oi the machine. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of the dice cutting devices, the section' being' taken on the 4Aline 3 3,

Fig. 2. Fig. d isa sectional elevation showf s ing the slicingand4 slitting knivesjand aj the rotating table Wher'eon they are mounted. Fig. 5 is a sectional View of@ knife and associated parts-taken 1 5 5, Fig. 2. Fig. (i is a pering the pin 18 through `dilereiut apertures in fraction of the slicing on the line spective of the slitting hiives.

throughout the several views.

Similar numerals referto similar parts j at any desired elevation and ln the form of machine selected tojillustrate 'the invention, an annular iraniel is? supported upon legs or uprightsf 2.0i" anyj suitable design. .Frame l has an inwardlyf for supporting,

projecting annular' iange la when need be. the periphery of therotjating table 3. rlable 3 is supported and drjiven in the means clearly shown in Fig. l, according to which de- Sign-:a table 3 kisfastened.to a bil-Sliing'd a set 5 or otherl suitable device toarbor 6 driven"` any suitable manner,` as by which'in turn is fastened'by of which thefollowing is a'speci fthempotato upon table 3 byla bevel gear 7 meshingwith a bevel gear shaft 9. Shaft 9Y by hand or power, in the 8 fastened to 4the main may be rotated present instance being rotated by` the hand ein A wheel 10. It 1s supported in stationary bearing standards 11. The hub 7a of bevel gear 7 rests -upon a bearing 12, in which arbor 6 is jounaled. Bearing 12 is mounted upon a stationary plate Z13-which is horizontal andsupported in the annular frame 1 at a distance above tble 3 slightly in excess of themaximum thickness of cut which thefslicing knife is capable of taking. Supported upon late 13 is a taper hood 7 0' 14 which is annulitr when, Viewed )from above and is concentric .with table 3 and arbor 6. By-pref erence its outer ed e is adr jacent and secured to Vframe l.. In t e -pres-l ent design this" hood,l follows vthe marginal 75 contour of the-machine frame for something -more than. half'its perimeter, commencing at the point 14 and terminating at the point 14h .shown in Fig. 2. i Hood 14 is arche shaped, the maximum rise being atthe point. :so

14Ca and the minimnm being at the `point .14". By ,preferendo the hood 4narrows slightly as itiiattens. out near the delivery .point 14? which will' be made hereinafter apparent.` 'Les p Mountedupontable 3 and rotatingtherei with-is aslicing knifel which is'hinged at its rear edge 16 ,to said table, the forward cutting edge yof lthe knife being preferably radial yor approximately so. .'lhe forward to Ycutting edge'of the @ite is adjustable for .elevation,.suitable means for the 'purpose- Abeing shown in Figs. a and 5. ln this form -arms l5a extend downwardly from the knife pearthe forward end thereof and are provided with apertures 15b which register with aperturesli' formedin arms i7.' Bypass- I y'parts 15 and 17, the edge may behield thus produce fio@ any thickness of slice desired.

At a slight distance. in 'front of the cut- Ating edgeof knife i5 is 4a .of knives fl9 for slittingjthepotatoes int-o strips. my

preferencethese knives areformed by being :iet

pstruck from a sheet i9 of steel or other suitable metal. The sheetor plate 19.ts fina recessi in table 3 and is 'boltedV or otherwise removably securedthereto.

V,the parts `alreaifi-isi.; described is as follows: The operator places in iront of the re` ceiving end of the taper hood`14. He then rot-ates the hand wheel and causes table 3 and the knives mounted thereon to rotate in a clockwise direction, Fig. 1. The potato will be carried along upon the rotating table until the top comes into contact with the top of the hood, whereupon in the table.

the potato will be arrestedbut the knives, continuing their rotary movement, will slit and slice it. The device is equipped with knife gangs having the knives differently spaced, for example, if French fried potatoes are desired, the operator will employ a gang of slitting blades in which the blades are comparatively far apart. Tf, however, he wishes to produce shoe string potatoes, he'will replace the gang by another gang in which the slitting knives are located more closelytogether, thus strips of anydesired width may be obtained by selecting the proper set of slitting knives. As the table rotates and drives the slitting knives against the potato, the longitudinal vertical cuts will be made and after these are completed, the slicing knife 15 advancing into and through the potatowill slice off a portion of the slitted potato and permit the strips to fall throughV a space 3b formed After the first cut has been made by the slicing knife, the potato will be lowered by thethickness of the slice and will consequently advance some distance toward the smaller lower end of the taper hood`14. Thehood, however, will nally arrest the potato again and the advancing knives will repeat the action. These steps in the process will be repeated `until finally the potato is completely sliced. If German fried or? Saratoga chips vare desired, the slitting knives 19 will be entirely removed and the knife-15 alone will be'employed. The

' latter will ber adjusted to take a thin or thick slice as desired.

1 will now describe means for producing cubes: At a suitable point in plate 13, remote from the taper hood 14 is a circular opening margined by the upturned iange's 13. Within this flange opening is mounted a grating formed of fashioning knives 21 mounted in a 'frame 22. These knives extend across each other at right angles and are spaced at a distance apart -suitable for roducing dice.- Above these knives is a rame 23 hinged to the annular frame 1 upon the pin 24. A plunger 25 is secured to a plunger stem 26 provided with a handle 27 and guided vertically by a boss 28 located -at the top of frame 23. A compression spring tends to yieldingly hold plunger 25,

in raised position.

When it is desired to Vproduce potato dice the plate 19 with its slitting knives 19 is first removed. The frame 23 1s then thrown back as indicated in dotted lines Fig. 3. This facilitates the introduction of a potato into the flanged'opening 13. The operator then returns frame 23 to -norlnal position and presses down upon the handle 27. This forces the potato through the dicing knives 21 until the lower surface of the potato reaches the table 3. The slicing knife in passing under the knives 21 removes a slice from the bottom of the potato which is already cut vertical and hence the diced potato falls through the opening 3b to the receptacle provided below.

It will be seen that there is noA occasion for the operator to feed the potato by hand. This is important for it eliminates the danger tothe operator from being cut by the moving knives. By properly selecting the knives a potato may be cut into strips of any cross section or may be formed into cubes or dice. It will be-noted that the operator has a choice of producing dice or of' producin plain slices without making any change o adjustment in the machine-that is to say, if the slitting knives 19 are absent, the operator without making any adjustment can produce either dice or slices according to whether he feeds the potato through the grating or knives 21 or whether he merely feeds it into the taper hood 14.

While have described this machine as a potato cutter, itwill be obvious that it may be used for other vegetables such as beets, carrots, etc.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is :-d t

A vegetable cutter comprising a grating composed of two .sets of fashioning knives,

the knives of one set being parallel to each other and transverse to the knives of the other set, the blades of said knives being vertical and their cutting edges uppermost and their back edges substantially on a level with each other, a plunger located over said grating and moving vertically to force the vegetable down through said grating, a horizontally rotating table located beneath said grating, and a slicing knife located beneath said grating and having its cutting edge vertically ad'ustable toward and from the backs i of said ashioning knives.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

JAMES K. SHIBATA. Witnesses:

Hou/ARD M. Cox. J ULIA M. Bnisror.. 

